St Clare Medical Centre

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• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

We looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated Good.

This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect; and involved as partners in their care. Staff treated patients with compassion and kindness. They respected patients’ privacy and dignity and understood the individual needs of patients. Staff involved patients in care planning and actively sought their feedback on the quality of care provided. Staff informed and involved families appropriately.

We have not awarded this service a score for Caring.

Find out about when we will not publish a key question score and what we look at when we assess Caring.

We scored the service as 3. The evidence showed a good standard. The service always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.

The service consistently treated patients with kindness, empathy, and compassion, and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff also treated colleagues with respect and worked well together. All staff we spoke with were clearly focused on patient care and aimed to provide the highest possible standards. This commitment was reflected in the patients’ feedback we reviewed, which was consistently positive. Staff followed policies to maintain confidentiality. Digital records and documentation were stored securely. Staff obtained consent before taking photographs before or after surgery. The consulting room was comfortable and provided a high level of privacy during consultations.

Staff understood and responded to patients’ individual needs, including personal, cultural, social, and religious requirements.

Patients told us staff were caring, respectful, and attentive. Feedback was continually positive and highlighted staff made patients feel safe throughout their care.

We scored the service as 3. The evidence showed a good standard. The service treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics.

We scored the service as 3. The evidence showed a good standard. The service promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing.

The service promoted patients’ independence. Staff supported patients to understand their care and treatment. Staff were available to answer patients’ questions before and after surgery. Feedback on aftercare was overwhelmingly positive. Patients had access to support and advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service had recently started to encourage feedback from patients and their families. Staff supported patients to share their views. Patients consistently gave positive feedback about the service.

We scored the service as 3. The evidence showed a good standard. The service listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress.

Staff demonstrated empathy during difficult conversations. For example, the surgeon spoke openly about his process to identify patients who may have unrealistic expectations about the results of their cosmetic surgery. The surgeon told us these conversations were sometimes challenging, but believed honesty was essential to protect patients from unnecessary treatment. Staff were usually alert to specific clinical needs and acted quickly, such as providing pain relief. Managers told us initial consultations allowed plenty of time for patients to ask questions and seek reassurance from the consultant.

We scored the service as 3. The evidence showed a good standard. The service cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care.

Staff told us they felt respected, supported, and valued. One staff member said, “We value each other’s opinions. We are like a family.” The service also provided free tea, coffee and refreshments on surgery days. The manager gave examples of going beyond contractual obligations to support staff in times of need, demonstrating a strong commitment to staff welfare.